Page 42 of Spreading Her Wings

Like this, in my arms, she was completely herself. Staring at the light blush in her cheeks, the rest of the room went silent around me. When she turned her face up and locked eyes with me, my chest fluttered, and when she winked, my heart plummeted to the ground beneath me.

When she looked at me like that, there was no doubt I was in love with her.

AUSTON

Be ready at 6. We’re going out.

ME

Jesus, you’re so bossy.

ME

Okay :)

Iput my hands to my cheeks, feeling the familiar warmth growing there. “Get it together, Katie. It’sjusta date.” Still, my chest fluttered. A date. I looked at the clock. 4:30.

Gasping, I rushed into the bathroom, stripping out of the worn shorts and old T-shirt I was lounging around the house in and jumping into the shower. The hot water stung my skin, and I thought about the way Auston had watched me and stroked his length while he did. My mouth watered, and when I started to trail my hands down my sides, warm arousal pooled between my legs.

Before I could reach between my legs and find my swollen clit, my phone rang on the counter, breaking me from my steam-filled daze. “Shit.”

I jumped out of the shower and onto the thick rug, leaving the water running and reaching for my phone on the counter.Andy.

Sighing, I swiped the green phone to answer the call. “Hey!”

“Hey, babe! I miss you!” Hearing Andy’s chipper voice through the phone made my throat feel tight the way it did just before the tears would line my eyelids. It was a reminder of the way I went from seeing my best friends every day to talking to them maybe once a week.

Swallowing and taking a deep breath, I smiled, knowing it would be heard in my voice. “I miss you too! Jules too! I miss all of you.” My voice cracked, giving away my cover of false happiness.

“Uh-oh. You don’t sound good. What’s wrong?”

She always did see right through it. “Nothing. I just really do miss you girls. Likea lot.”

“Oh, babe, we miss youtoo!” She paused, a stifled giggle hiding behind the faux sadness in her voice. “That’s why we’re coming out next weekend!”

The excitement echoed through the phone, and I jumped up and down. “Oh my god! I can’t believe it! I can’t wait tosee you!” I waved my hands in the air in front of me, and the small diamond on my finger caught the reflection from the light above me, bringing my attention to it and flushing the excitement from my veins.

“Auston is going to come to dinner with us too, so hopefully you guys can get along without bickering too much.” She giggled, and I hoped mine didn’t sound as forced as it felt.

Nerves filled my stomach, causing it to sink. How was I going to pretend like I still couldn’t stand the man I was havingvery real feelings for? It had become second nature for us to be touching in some way, something we wouldn’t be able to do in front of Andy.

I forced a groan. “Don’t we always make it work? We’ll pretend.” A real giggle left my throat at the irony we’d be pretending to dislike each other at the same time we were pretending to be very in love with each other. Every day I balanced somewhere in the middle, dancing between annoyance and arousal.

On her end of the line, there was a grumble, followed by her muffled laugh. Like Jules, it was rare to catch her without the interruption of her overly attentive fiancé. It was sweet to hear her happy, and for the first time, I wasn’t jealous. The thought of Auston’s lips on my neck crossed my mind, and I longed for the comfort of the area between his arms and his chest.

“I should, uh, let you go,” I said, imagining what she’d say if I told her I was falling for her brother.

She sighed with a satisfied breath. “Yeah, okay. I’llseeyou next weekend!”

“Can’t wait!” I hung up the phone and climbed back into the shower.

Auston gripped the steering wheel, his forearm rippling when he did. Judging by the smirk that grew on his face, he saw me staring. “You seriously won’t tell me where you’re taking me?” I whined, tossing my head back like a child throwing a tantrum.

He chuckled. “I already told you, kitten. We’re going to do something that scares you.”

“The last time we did something that scares me, we ended up standing in the front of a chapel with a rooster in a suit and Elvispronouncing us man and wife.” I rolled my eyes in his direction, but I didn’t miss his side glance down to the ring on my finger. I don’t know why I’d decided to wear it, but it was starting to feel comfortable on my hand.

“Well, we’re already married, so how much scarier can it get, hmm?”

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